20 Years Later: Remembering those lost in the Flight 5481 crash
It has been 20 years since the crash of the Air Midwest Flight 5481 in Charlotte, killing all 21 people on board.
On January 8, 2003, Air Midwest Flight 5481 pitched up uncontrollably on the runway during takeoff. The plane stalled and then crashed into the ground, killing 19 passengers and two crew members.
An investigation conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found major deficiencies in Air Midwest’s maintenance practices and deemed the cause of the crash to be an improperly rigged elevator system.
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Commercial airlines tend to follow the same path following the crash when it comes to dealing with victims. Some choose to offer private settlements as compensation to victims; the settlement is usually accepted and both parties try to move past the tragedy. One of the main factors of the settlements is that defendants pay the plaintiffs without admitting fault.
Plaintiff Teresa Shepherd and her husband, Pastor Doug Shepherd chose not to take the bait after they lost their daughter Christiana in the crash. The Shepherds were not motivated by money, they wanted the airline to admit its wrongdoing and assure that safety changes would be made.
The Shepherds, along with another family who lost a loved one in the crash, were represented by Baum Hedlund Aristei and Goldman in the Air Midwest litigation.
Goldman knew that it would not be easy to convince Air Midwest to admit fault for the crash. Defendants in legal cases of this size tend to be more focused on moving past the tragedy and settling with plaintiffs. Air Midwest insisted on a clause in the settlement expressly denying blame. The judge who oversaw the case added to the difficulty.
“The judge was upset that we were even asking for it,” Goldman recalled in an interview for the Audible podcast ‘Say You’re Sorry,’ which aired in 2021 Episode 4. “I think he was quite angry with me because he thought this was a ploy that I was using to increase the settlement amount, that we would give it up when they raised the amount of money, and we had to say, ‘No, that’s not the case’.”
Only after the Shepherds stood in front of the settlement judge and said they would not settle until their concerns for safety and a public apology from the airline were addressed, Air Midwest began to seriously consider their demands.
Following multiple mediation sessions, Air Midwest finally agreed and committed to issuing a public apology.
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The Shepherds invited all of the families of victims in the crash to attend the apology ceremony that Baum Hedlund had organized on May 6, 2005, at the crash memorial site at Charlotte Douglas Airport.
Air Midwest President Greg Stephens told families that the airline and its maintenance provider, Vertex, apologized to everyone affected by the tragic event.
Air Midwest’s apology and safety changes made a large impact in the aviation field even though the airline ceased operation in 2008. In a podcast interview, Teresa Shepherd talked about a friend’s son who became an airplane mechanic and that their story was used as an example.
“He said, ‘Wait, I know those people!’ And their point was, every decision you make, every bolt you don’t turn, and every job you don’t finish, affects people like this. This is what happens if you don’t do your job right. That felt really, really good,” said Shepherd.
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Attorney Ronald Goldman will be retiring from practicing law after a 60-year career on January 10, 2023. He’s named the airline’s apology as one of the greatest achievements of his career.
“The 20th anniversary of the tragic Air Midwest 5481 crash is an opportunity to reflect on the ongoing fight for aviation safety. The lives lost, and the loving memories of each precious life, continue to spur our efforts. We believe that, out of this disaster, aviation safety has taken a step forward, as our work has led to concrete training and staffing improvements in maintenance shops. Those improvements are part of the legacy of all those touched by Flight 5481, and I am honored to have played a part in it,” said Goldman.
Victims of the Air Midwest Flight 5481 Crash have been identified as:
Caitlin Albury, 13 – Marsh Harbour, Bahamas
Nicholas Albury, 21 – Marsh Harbour, Bahamas
Robin Albury, 38 – Marsh Harbour, Bahamas
Sreenivasa Badam, 24 – India
Mark Congdon – Baltimore, Maryland
Keith Coyner – Coral Springs, Florida
Forrest Demartino – Dayton, Ohio
Sylvain Dubois – Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Richard E. Fonte, 29 – Jacksonville, North Carolina
Gary Gezzer, 42 – Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Jonathan Gibbs (first officer) – Charlotte, North Carolina
Steven J. Krassas – Richmond, Virginia
Katie Leslie (captain), 25 – Charlotte, North Carolina
Richard Lyons, 56 – Boston, Massachusetts
Ima Pearson – Las Vegas, Nevada
Christiana Shepherd, 18 – Boston, Massachusetts
Joseph M. Spiak, 46 – Boston, Massachusetts
Ganeshram Sreenivasan, 23 – India
Paul Stidham, 46 – Dayton, Maryland
Michael Otto Sullivan – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Ralph Sylvia – Richmond, Virginia
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